The very name evokes mystery, riches, faraway places and unknown lands. Timbuktu – the forbidden city in the heart of Africa. It was founded in 1080. And within 300 years, it had become one of ...

The last time I'd visited Timbuktu, in 1995, there were only three ways to get there: a three-day journey upriver by a motorized pirogue, or canoe, from the trading town of Mopti; a chartered ...

Timbuktu became the cultural center of the Mali and Songhai Empires, ... I was exhausted and, I admit, disappointed. Low brown mud buildings defined the architecture, giving it a temporary feeling.

An alleged Islamist militant is facing proceedings at the International Criminal Court over the destruction of historic mausoleums in Timbuktu, Mali, in 2012.

Why Timbuktu's true treasure is its libraries. This storied African city grew from a nomads’ camp into a wealthy cosmopolitan center of wisdom and learning enriched by trade in gold and salt.

Demolition Of Timbuktu's Cultural Sites Spurs War-Crimes ... enough evidence to try a reputed leader of the group that seized a portion of northern Mali and destroyed irreplaceable buildings, ...

But before fleeing, the militants reportedly set fire to several buildings and many rare manuscripts. Timbuktu Mayor Halle Ousmane Cisse, speaking from the Malian capital of Bamako, told ...

Timbuktu! No city in the world conjures such images of romance and adventure. NBC News' Richard Engel journeys to the lost city of gold — the end of the earth, terra incognita — where old maps ...

TIMBUKTU, Mali—Until just a few weeks ago, the bombed-out customs-police building on Timbuktu's desert fringe was a bustling training center, locals say, where Islamist militants learned to fix ...